Generally, a general-purpose Web browser installed in a computer has a function of displaying digital content (hereinafter referred to as “content”), which is digital data downloaded from a server apparatus via a network, on a display unit, a function of accepting a user operation by a Graphical User Interface (GUI) displayed on the display unit or the like. When the user confirms the content displayed on the display unit and operates the print instruction of the content, the print device prints the image of the content displayed on the display unit.
On the other hand, built-in browsers, which are dedicated Web browsers built in image forming apparatuses such as printing apparatuses and multifunction peripherals (MFPs: Multi Function Peripheral), might be limited in their functions as compared with general-purpose Web browsers (For example, refer to Patent Document 1). For example, the built-in browser of the image forming apparatus displays a hyperlink as link destination information related to the content on the operation panel which is a touch panel having a display function and an input function, instead of displaying the content. When instructing the printing of the content with the built-in browser, the user selects a hyperlink indicating the content to be printed among one or more hyperlinks displayed on the operation panel (for example, a hyperlink is touched), thereby completing to instruct the printing of the content. In this way, the printing method of starting printing by selecting one of the one or more hyperlinks displayed by the built-in browser is also called browser direct printing.
Browser direct printing in a conventional image forming apparatus is performed in the following procedure. First, the image forming apparatus performs a “display process” in which one or more hyperlinks are displayed on the operation panel, and then the user performs a “selecting operation” in which one of more than hyperlinks are selected. Next, the image forming apparatus performs a “download process” in which the content of the link destination indicated by the selected one hyperlink is downloaded, and then the image forming apparatus performs a “print process” in which an image of the downloaded content is printed.